He was the first president, second emperor, and last monarch of France. It would only be two months following his birth that he, in accordance to Napoleon I's dynastic naming policy, would be bestowed the name of Charles-Louis Napoleon, [ 2 ] however, shortly after, Charles was very quick to be removed from his name. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was the first and only president of the French Second Republic , elected in He seized power by force in when he could not constitutionally be re-elected.
He later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French and founded the Second Empire , reigning until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies at the Battle of Sedan in Napoleon III was a popular monarch who oversaw the modernization of the French economy and filled Paris with new boulevards and parks.
He expanded the French colonial empire , made the French merchant navy the second largest in the world, and personally engaged in two wars. He expanded and consolidated the railway system throughout the nation and modernized the banking system. Napoleon promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made the country an agricultural exporter.
Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike, the right to organize, and the right for women to be admitted to a French university. At the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. He was also favourable towards the union of the Danubian Principalities , which resulted in the establishment of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Napoleon doubled the area of the French colonial empire with expansions in Asia, the Pacific, and Africa.
On the other hand, the intervention in Mexico , which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection, ended in total failure. From , Napoleon had to face the mounting power of Prussia as its minister president Otto von Bismarck sought German unification under Prussian leadership. In July , Napoleon reluctantly declared war on Prussia after pressure from the general public. The French Army was rapidly defeated, and Napoleon was captured at Sedan.
